With Trump Arriving, Zelensky Urges Allies Not to ‘Drop the Ball’
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In an impassioned address to officials from countries supporting Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky said ‘a new chapter’ would be starting for Europe and the rest of the world, requiring even more cooperation.
By John Ismay
Reporting from Ramstein Air Base in Germany
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday implored representatives from roughly 50 nations to maintain their military support for Ukraine’s nearly three-year long war with Russia, saying it would “be crazy to drop the ball now.”
“It’s clear that the new chapter starts for Europe and the entire world just 11 days from now, at a time when we have to cooperate even more, rely on one another even more and achieve even greater results together,” Mr. Zelensky said, referring to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump on Jan 20. Mr. Trump has publicly expressed doubt about continuing to assist Ukraine once he takes office.
“I see this as a time of opportunities and renewal in almost three years of full scale war,” the Ukrainian president said.
Mr. Zelensky then added “We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not to keep building on the defense coalitions we’ve created.”
His comments came during the opening of the 25th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has met approximately every month since the early weeks of the war and comprises at least 53 nations that have offered financial assistance, arms, ammunition and other military hardware to Kyiv for use against Russian and North Korean invasion forces.
At the conference, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin officially announced a new $500 million military aid package for Ukraine, part of a presidential drawdown authority that the Biden administration, in its final weeks, has been using to maintain the flow of support to Ukraine.
